Ontario “Construction Project” Rules

Like other provinces, Ontario has separate OHS regulations for different kinds of work sites. The new working at heights training rules that take effect on Oct. 1, 2017 apply only to sites covered by the Construction Projects regulations, namely, construction projects deemed “projects” under (Section 1(1) of) the OHS Act. The definition of “project” is based on the type of work done at the site, public or private, including:

(a) The construction of a building, bridge, structure, industrial establishment, mining plant, shaft, tunnel, caisson, trench, excavation, highway, railway, street, runway, parking lot, cofferdam, conduit, sewer, watermain, service connection, telegraph, telephone or electrical cable, pipe line, duct or well, or any combination of the above;

(b) The moving of a building or structure; and

(c) Any work or undertaking, or any lands or appurtenances used in connection with construction.

 

To make sense of this definition, you must also understand the definition of “construction”:

“’construction’ includes erection, alteration, repair, dismantling, demolition, structural maintenance, painting, land clearing, earth moving, grading, excavating, trenching, digging, boring, drilling, blasting or concreting, the installation of any machinery or plant, and any work or undertaking in connection with a project but does not include any work or undertaking underground in a mine.”